The Move - Part 658 - the Ikea factor

Our get-together saw us heading to Ikea for some additional storage space and ideas for our fabric design. Aside from the list (always a Kalax with inserts) we found great plastic sheets that are textured on one side, smooth on the reverse and perfect for a lot of our printing. Take two please! We work with our own fabrics, our own designs and it's great to walk around the textiles area and look at the shapes, the scale, colourways of different fabrics. No time for coffee just a quick trip with a list and lots of "oh wow" before we headed back to Forest Lake. My putting-it-together skills with Ikea are such that the new storage cabinet was put together in under 30 minutes. The final boxes are unpacked and now I just need to sort everything into logical spaces and places. Another day ...

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A river infuses it

Priority #1: Create My CBD office sits on the edge of this mighty, murky waterway - the Brisbane River. Over the next six months I'll be working on an exhibition piece as part of the Broadstrokes artists group. Starting with the obvious, I'm making preliminary sketches to determine the substrate form. I need to consider how it will perform under the visual intent of the piece. That is, " substrate " can be used to convey those things which " underly " or " sit beneath " the primary image. Infused by a river. I need to consider the political, social, economic, ethical or moral connections. I'll also explore which materials are best suited for that purpose.

It's all in the background - designing substrate

Scaling up an image of the Brisbane River to develop the substrate for a new art quilt. Each square needs to be 6cm x 6cm to make a finished size of 5 cm square. I created a "to scale" model of the finished quilt on drafting paper. I printed an image of the river (attribution below) and then scaled it up to get a fairly accurate flow across the quilt. The substrate rightly tells the background story. It is the foundation on which the main elements or features reside. So it isn't the "hero" of the piece - it needs to be recognised and visible without overwhelming the piece. I can now easily identify which squares hold a section of the river and start to experiment on piecing, applique, fusing, printing, and painting to learn which gives the best outcome for the substrate. (Brisbane River original image: Magpie Shooter; edited version Paulguard at en.wikipedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/indix.php?curid=9724127) My foundation piece might well end up bei

Upcycled art quilts

Priority #1 Create: Making zippered bags from some of my art quilts is getting them out of storage and transformed into something useful. I'm using a technique from Design Matters TV whose re-imagined purse pattern is a delight to make. Every time. Each bag is lined with hand dyed and printed fabric. I'm enjoying saying "goodbye" and "thanks for your service" as I cut into quilts that, at the time, consumed every creative moment of my life. I'm enjoying the wooo hooo that accompanies the letting go. It's good for my (creative) soul.

Ali George Artist

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